Miniconference: "The Disappearing Biosensor: Microdevices in the Age of Pervasive Biomonitoring"

A revolution in clinical and point-of-care medical electronic devices leading to preventative and home-maintenance healthcare models is well underway. The implication for massive product/business opportunities is evident. Disposable point-of-care bioassays, closed loop drug dispensing, and pervasive remote biometrics monitoring are in the market and in the headlines.

But new research-phase and developmental technologies promise to create new leaders (and entrench aggressive incumbents) in these expanding market s. Today’s remarkable medical electronic devices are largely self-contained systems connected to sensors in the body for monitoring or regulatory purposes via external electrical and physical connections. But high interest from the medical community in general and the medical electronics community in particular are driving the development of new technologies to support the realization of less intrusive, more ubiquitous medical electronics systems.

Over the last decade, nanoengineered materials and nanomanufacturing processes have emerged as key candidate technologies for the implementation of new classes of electronic systems that promise to revolutionize medical electronics, medical diagnostics, and therapeutic electronics. Flexible low cost electronic and microfluidic devices have been demonstrated based on engineered nanomaterials and printing techniques, including a wide range of sensors, diagnostics, computational elements, batteries, actuators, and the associated integration technology. This workshop aims to provide an overview of the breakthrough work from leaders in the field, from engineers working directly in clinical settings to university and industry nanotechnologists developing tomorrow’s materials and devices.